Thursday, July 22, 2021

Kenya Alphabet Safari

A is for Acacia Trees! Acacia: not just for word games anymore!



B is for Baboons and Bees and Birds and Buffalo! The bees are from a trip to Eburru where a local tribe maintains bee hives and collects honey using traditional methods. Not pictured are us eating the delicious honey and standing in the natural sauna of the hot springs nearby. As for the birds . . . one day I will start a separate bird blog in which I take pictures of all the amazing birds from my travels with not-an-iphone-camera but still only label them as "bird." If you're into more descriptors, they might include:grey heron, egret, and sacred ibis. To me, they'll always be "a bird."












C is for Cape Hare, Cormorant, and Crater Lake!







D is for Dik Dik! The tiniest antelope!



E is for Eagle!



F is for Flamingos!



G is for Giraffes and Guinea Fowl! I have decided that the guinea fowl is my spirit animal. Its feathers are black with white polkadots, its neck has just a little bit of bling, they taste like chicken, and they are not interested in posing for my pictures. 









H is for Hippopotamus and Hyena! We saw 7 baby hippopotamuses and three adults at our lodge. They stayed in the water all day but were on the move at night!





I is for Impala!



J is for Jackal! I promise they are in there . . . they're helping themselves to the zebra carcass leftovers from their lion friends.

K is for Kelly! (Sorry, Kenya.)






L is for Lion and Lake Naivasha! All of the lakes in the area have swelled way beyond their normal border this past year due to tectonic shifts in the valley and #climatechange









M is for Monkeys! We saw the black-faced vervet monkeys and black and white Colobuses.



N is for Lake Nakuru National Park! Lake Nakuru borders Nakuru Town and is a wildlife reserve that hosts birds and animals galore.

O is for Oriole! Specifically the Bishop Oriole seen here enjoying some pool bird bath time!

P is for Pelicans and the Pied Kingfisher!




Q is nothing without U and I won't stand for it.

R is for Rhinoceros and Rothschild Giraffes! The Rothschild giraffe doesn't have the pattern going all the way down their legs- it looks like they're wearing white knee-high socks!









S is for Spring Hare, Storks, Sunbirds, and Superb Starlings! The spring hare is technically a rodent that looks like a rabbit but hops on its two hind legs like a kangaroo!





T is for Thomson Gazelles!



U is for the Ugandan State Bird! It's a crown crane and can be seen on their national flag!



V is for AT! Last names redacted for internet security reasons.







W is for Warthogs and Water Buck!


X is for X-ray Vision! Well, we technically didn't have that, but we did do a few night game drives. To find the animals, we used a giant spotlight to look for their eyes glistening in the dark. Once an animal was spotted, the red light was used to observe the animals without disturbing them.


Y is for Yellow-Billed Stork!

Z is for Zebra!





The alphabet aside, don't be afraid to mix your prints!

Guess what?


Annnnd, I'm out.
-KT